Rebels in Yemen are packing boats with explosives in an attempt to shut one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and halt Saudi Arabia’s military offensive against them, according to the Saudi coalition.
Houthi fighters, backed by Iran, have loaded a remote-controlled vessel with bombs and set it on a course to strike and blow up a Saudi oil tanker in a stretch of water that effectively controls access to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean from the Indian Ocean.
The attack was thwarted by the coalition fighting in Yemen on Saturday, days before the Shia rebels vowed to bring shipping to a halt if the Gulf alliance did not stop its advance towards their coastal strongholds.
Colonel Turki al-Maliki, a spokesman for the Gulf alliance, told The Times that coalition forces had destroyed the Houthi boat before it struck a Saudi oil tanker near the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah.
He said that the attack
had been part of the rebel group’s plan to target the Bab al-Mandeb
Strait. The 12-mile wide chokehold, which lies just south of Hodeidah,
is the way into the Red Sea.
“The Houthis are threatening international trade and marine navigation in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb Strait. There is an imminent threat every day,” Colonel Maliki said from Riyadh. “Their attempt to attack the oil tanker is very serious, it is a hostile act. There is no doubt that Hodeidah port is now a base from which they are launching terrorist attacks.”
Saturday’s assault was carried out by a commercial vessel remotely operated by the Houthis from a support ship sailing in formation behind it, he said. The Saudi coalition believes that the rebel group has the capability to lay floating and submerged mines as well as to send divers to attach mines to ships.
On average, 60 commercial and passenger vessels and nearly four million barrels of oil travel every day through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. Its closure would force the world’s shipping traffic to bypass the Suez Canal and travel around Africa, damaging global trade.
The Houthis have said that they will halt shipping traffic in the area if Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies continue their advance on Hodeidah. The coastal city, home to Yemen’s main port and its supply lifeline, has been under Houthi control since they swept to power in 2015, starting the civil war in Yemen.
“If the aggressors keep pushing towards Hodeidah, and if the political solution hits a wall, there are some strategic choices that will be taken as a no return point, including blocking the international navigation in the Red Sea,” Saleh al-Samad, a senior member of the Houthis’ political council, said.
“Their ships pass by our waters while our people starve,” he added.
The Shia rebels have already been accused of targeting Emirati, Saudi Arabian and American ships many times over the past two years. A missile fired from Houthi territory narrowly missed the USS Mason, a guided missile destroyer, in October 2016, a week after a UAE vessel came under attack.
It prompted the US navy and the Royal Navy to deploy destroyers to protect merchant vessels near the Strait.
Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies have been bombing Yemen since 2015 to reinstate President Hadi, who was ousted by the Houthis. A partial blockade of Hodeidah is said to be the main reason nearly 8 million Yemenis are on the brink of famine.
“The Houthis are threatening international trade and marine navigation in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb Strait. There is an imminent threat every day,” Colonel Maliki said from Riyadh. “Their attempt to attack the oil tanker is very serious, it is a hostile act. There is no doubt that Hodeidah port is now a base from which they are launching terrorist attacks.”
Saturday’s assault was carried out by a commercial vessel remotely operated by the Houthis from a support ship sailing in formation behind it, he said. The Saudi coalition believes that the rebel group has the capability to lay floating and submerged mines as well as to send divers to attach mines to ships.
On average, 60 commercial and passenger vessels and nearly four million barrels of oil travel every day through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. Its closure would force the world’s shipping traffic to bypass the Suez Canal and travel around Africa, damaging global trade.
The Houthis have said that they will halt shipping traffic in the area if Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies continue their advance on Hodeidah. The coastal city, home to Yemen’s main port and its supply lifeline, has been under Houthi control since they swept to power in 2015, starting the civil war in Yemen.
“If the aggressors keep pushing towards Hodeidah, and if the political solution hits a wall, there are some strategic choices that will be taken as a no return point, including blocking the international navigation in the Red Sea,” Saleh al-Samad, a senior member of the Houthis’ political council, said.
“Their ships pass by our waters while our people starve,” he added.
The Shia rebels have already been accused of targeting Emirati, Saudi Arabian and American ships many times over the past two years. A missile fired from Houthi territory narrowly missed the USS Mason, a guided missile destroyer, in October 2016, a week after a UAE vessel came under attack.
It prompted the US navy and the Royal Navy to deploy destroyers to protect merchant vessels near the Strait.
Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies have been bombing Yemen since 2015 to reinstate President Hadi, who was ousted by the Houthis. A partial blockade of Hodeidah is said to be the main reason nearly 8 million Yemenis are on the brink of famine.
www.thetimes.co.uk
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